It Changed My Mindset About My Spirituality

About a year ago, I began to find genuine interest in spiritual knowledge and learning, and its value and many applications outside of formal education and studies. I began researching philosophers and reading their works regarding spiritualism, new ways of thinking and perceiving things, as well as how our lives as human work in conjunction with the universe around us. I find this kind of thinking, and discovering some of the infinite wealth of knowledge around me, to be both personal and liberating.

ABOUT ME: I am a Contemporary Medicine Woman with a doctorate in Metaphysical Sciences and am a Clinical Hypnotherapist. I have written various books on Spiritually Conscious Living to share expansion possibilities on your spiritual journey such as "Learn to Journey" and "A Sacred Walk: A Contemporary Perspective of the Medicine Wheel". Workshops turned into books for you to explore your own paths on your own time schedule.

My spiritual formation took a new turn when in 2013 my parents’ house was burned down in an arson. At that time, I was living with my parents. Since, the house was not insured, our local church and our acquaintances in the neighborhood helped us financially so we could rebuild our house, while a family in the neighborhood gave us shelter at their house. The love and care of the

Personally, I enjoyed this article because I look forward to being able to integrate the Bible and Scriptures into my own counseling practices. I feel that both my knowledge of psychology and the Word of God will allow me to help people through anything. God’s word will be the basis of my treatment plans; I will also need my background and insight from psychology.

I was actually a little upset when the article ended because I had hoped that Tan would have been able to provide examples from more than one client. I was happy that Tan discussed the story of Jane who had, had such a profound spiritual experience. Tan states in the article that not everyone has an experience like that but everyone takes away some sense of

I believe I met the requirements in the syllabus as well as went beyond expectations by going into great depth and integration of thinking. I made a great effort to explore the issue within me and to bring all of it out into the open. I believe I managed to effectively pinpoint the problem at hand as well as discern the life that God desires for me to have. While having a clear view of where I am and a clear view of where I should be, I believe I came up with good practical ways to combat this issue. I applied what I acquired from the sacred listenings and other texts and assignments from the course (especially the Screwtape letter assignment) while seeking God’s wisdom and council regarding the situation. I believe I did true soul-searching

As a child I was always sensitive to others and had this unexplained knowing. A few years ago the unexplained knowing became stronger, very overwhelming to me. I would hear things, feel things, see things, and smell things that were not there. I finally thought, maybe I should see if other people go through this and THEY DO! I was so happy to know that I was not alone. That’s when I found the Healing Shoppe it was a true gift to my soul. I visited often, every Tuesday for the Sensitive Soul Class (I finally felt normal). The sense of community, and acceptance made it easy for to accept myself. Five months later I found myself in the Hypnotherapy class which changed my life, my way of thinking. I finally found my path in life and once

As you work towards reaching beyond your current limitations, your life will metamorphose in ways you couldn’t fathom today. This is true for I have been consciously on the personal/spiritual growth journey since November of 1989, I’ve seen my life and relationship transformed

The weekly spiritual exercises, however strange they seem, really helped me figure out what kind of person I am. The prompts made me think about things that I normally would not think about. The lists taught me who I am as a person because I had to think about what makes me tired and what gives me energy. I now know that I love to be around people and I value relationships. I notice things about people even when

The second event I participated in was a very positive experience, with very little fear and anxiety. I think that my background as instilled in my the ability to focus on the positive in situations and in people. I have learned that all people are valuable to God, even if they are not aligned in the center of His will, He desires and pursues them. Therefore, I wanted to desire to understand them too. I observed many redeeming qualities and practices

I’d like to state the most obvious observation that I’ve made about spiritual formation; that is that I will always need to be seeking for ways to nurture my personal spirituality throughout my life. I know that to most people this may sound like a “duh” statement, but for me it has truly become a reality and one that I must admit I have been struggling to embrace. I was brought up in a church that, like most traditional churches, stayed happy living in the “comfort zone” of their Christianity. They took everything that the Bible said at face value without digging in to find out why they believed what they believed. I had never been challenged to look deeper into the text. In the past few years I have felt the need to tunnel out of this

Now lets get down to my opinion on the class. I must say I have been surprised by what passes as a class on spiritual formation and transformation. Which is not to say that I don't agree with some things about the class, but all in all I'm very disappointed. When we first started this class I had had hopes that it was going to be refreshing and full of sound ideas. By week 4 or 5 I had abandoned all hope of

As an activist, I am seeking to build a better world. A world for all people and all other forms of life. I want to build a world where all life is respected and where suffering due to oppression is eradicated. However, I have learned that I cannot build that world if I am not internalizing these ideas. As an activist, I must be vigilant in the ways in which I interact with the people around me. Engaging in a spiritual practice offered a unique insight into spiritual activism. I heard parts of myself for the very first time and gained insight to where I am on my spiritual journey. Furthermore, I was able to connect this new knowledge with my everyday life and work to better myself. I was fortunate enough to have an experience within this project that allowed me to enact change within myself and another individual. This experience was not only transformative, but vital to my growth and has inspired me to go forward within this work. Learning about spiritual activism firsthand has shaped my views on enacting change within my own community. Aside from an overwhelming feeling of pride within this work, I created a newfound relationship with myself that I will continue to nurture. Through mirror scrying I became more aware of myself, my place in my community, and the ways in which spiritual activism is beneficial in my pursuit to build a better world.

Periodically while surfing the internet I encounter a page entitled "Books That Changed My Life", with a list of books that purportedly changed the life of the author. I am always irritated by these pages, because I never see any evidence that the books had actually changed the life of the author. In fact, for most of these pages a more appropriate title would have been "Books that I really, really liked a lot." Occasionally, it might have been called "Books that influenced my thinking," but I'm reluctant to refer to that as having changed one's life.

In examining my experience during the recent Cohort Intensives held at Payne Theological Seminary (PTS) in Wilberforce, Ohio; I was quite intrigued with how all of the scholars and guest speakers reinforced many of the initiatives I have already implemented in the context of my own ministry. Likewise, my time spent in class with my Cohort mentors Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie and Rev. Dr. Kenneth S. Robinson was both scholastically and spiritually invaluable. During the week-long Intensive class sessions with my mentors, I learned a number of new things about myself that I was not previously willing to address. In short, I had a moment of self-actualization that required some personal omissions on my part regarding my faith and yes some internalized oppression as labeled by author Gayraud S. Wilmore. Opening up in class and admitting a few of my own short-comings was nothing short of liberating. Suddenly, I felt as though I had an epiphany; that has given birth to a renewed zeal, mind, and spirit. For the first time in years I am certain that I am now moving closer to the apex of excellence where God intended me to be.